KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday witnessed a mixed trend and after moving in both directions, closed on a negative note due to selling, mainly in E&P and banking sectors.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 78,241.02 points intraday high and 77,595.93 points intraday low, before closing at 77,740.31 points, down 146.68 points or 0.19 percent.

Trading activity also remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 278.986 million shares as compared to 382.597 million shares traded on Wednesday while total daily traded value on the ready counter declined to Rs 13.094 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.638 billion.

BRIndex100 lost 5.5 points or 0.07 percent to close at 8,226.71 points with total daily turnover of 202.033 million shares.

BRIndex30 decreased by 87.0 points or 0.34 percent to close at 25,479.63 points with total daily trading volumes of 125.898 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $174,330. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 23 billion to Rs 10.344 trillion. Out of total 433 active scrips, 198 closed in negative and 172 in positive while the value of 63 stocks remained unchanged.

Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 26.705 million shares and gained Rs 0.32 to close at Rs 6.45 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at previous session’s closing level of Rs 1.25 without any change with 21.817 million shares. Waves Home App lost Rs 0.81 to close at Rs 8.04 with 13.525 million shares.

Sapphire Fibres and The Premier Sugar Mills were the top gainers increasing by Rs 98.14 and Rs 46.00 respectively to close at Rs 1,598.06 and Rs 506.00 while Nestle Pakistan and Mehmood Textile Mills were the top losers declining by Rs 65.50 and Rs 60.95 respectively to close at Rs 6,900.00 and Rs 605.00.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that the index fluctuated between an intraday high of 78,241 and a low of 77,596 points during the session.

The market’s downtrend was driven by declines in sectors such as Exploration & Production (E&P) and Banking, with significant contributions from companies including UBL, BAFL, MARI, PPL, and BAHL, which together accounted for a 229-point drop.

BR Automobile Assembler Index increased by 333.86 points or 1.81 percent to close at 18,731.73 points with total turnover of 12.395 million shares.

BR Cement Index inched up by 3.37 points or 0.04 percent to close at 7,495.57 points with 24.321 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index declined by 184.24 points or 0.82 percent to close at 22,174.26 points with 12.259 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index gained 30.3 points or 0.17 percent to close at 17,933.10 points with 14.469 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index lost 32.5 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,555.63 points with 32.627 million shares.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 3,906.07 points, up 14.26 points or 0.37 percent with 39.681 million shares.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed under pressure on institutional profit taking in blue chip banking and oil scrips.

He said falling banking spreads amid easing SBP policy, surging unresolved power sector circular debt and uncertainty over rollover of $15 billion China IPPs dues played a catalyst role in bearish close.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024